The latest on the Washington Nationals' triple-A affiliate in Syracuse from the Chiefs' front office.

(Third) Rate the IL Hotel: Toledo

It’s time once again for America’s second-fastest growing sensation…..just behind that Chia Pet stuck under Niagara Falls…..

(Third) Rate the IL Hotel!!!!!!

Now here’s your host….the man whose fire escape plans are always affixed to the back of his door…..Jason Benetti!!!

Thank you, thank you. Boy is it a lovely day to rate a hotel. If you’ve just joined us on our program, it’s easy to catch up. We take the most recent hotel the Syracuse Chiefs have stayed in, flesh out three positives and three negatives, and assign a mostly arbitrary and somewhat meaningless score to it from 1 to 100. This week, our challenger is the Park Inn Toledo. If you’re in town for a Mud Hens game, the Park Inn is easy to find. It’s the one overlooking left-center field. Onward and upward:

Pros:

1) Bears on my pillow. When Kevin and I walked into the hotel room, we found these:

Nothing is more refreshing after an eight-hour bus ride than a quick sugar fix by way of gummi bears. Even better, there were more sweet little creatures left on the bed the second day. I’m interested, though, in how the Park Inn people and the Haribo people came to this relationship. Was the gummi bear company soliciting hotels where it could place its product? Or did the Park Inn people cold-call candy-makers in an effort to make its customers happier? “Alright, Sno-Caps. There’s no way this is gonna work. I’m texting Junior Mints.”

2) Fair is fowl. The Park Inn Toledo is renowned in some circles for its ducks. In most rooms, a plastic-sealed rubber duck sits and waits for the next entrant. While there really is not much practical value to a rubber duck, it is a rather quaint and cute addition. Plus, sometimes the little quacker’s investigative power saves the day….

3) Location. As mentioned, the Park Inn is located less than two blocks from Fifth Third Field, the Hens’ gameday home. This is fantastic news, especially when the team you’re watching plays back-to-back games at 10:30 in the morning. The hotel is so close that Chiefs manager Tony Beasley–whose room faced the park–said he was going to do something recognizable with his drapes before he left one day so he could recognize his room from in the dugout.

Cons:

1) ….in five minutes or less, or your room is free. The Park Inn’s rooms are rather normal for a hotel. There’s a bathroom, two beds, a desk near the window and assorted furniture (usually a pair of chairs arranged in a corner in an L-shape). There’s also a tall wooden TV cabinet. When, Kevin and I entered our room early Saturday morning, I was struck by the faint odor of stagnation/cigarettes in the room. We decided that the smell was inconclusive for smoke, so we decided to keep the room. Kevin immediately went for the rubber duck. After opening it, he placed it on top of the TV stand. The duck’s eyes were shocked to find this:

The Park Inn Toledo’s room service is so good, it gets your pizza through the door days before you arrive. Plus, to keep you sharp during your stay, they hide the pizza somewhere in the room to allow you to stimulate your mind. That’s customer appreciation.

2) Don’t go away. After the 2 P.M. game Sunday, the dinner search was on in downtown Toledo. So, I asked a gentleman at the front desk for a recommendation of a restaurant at which to eat. His first suggestion was the hotel sports bar. This establishment was in view from where we were talking. If I wanted to go there, I’d have taken 30 steps. That’s like Columbus asking the Queen what she wanted colonized and having her respond, “Madrid.”

3) Scents and sentries. Here’s a look at the area around the lobby’s elevator bank at the Park Inn:

Well hello, Genghis Khan. Didn’t realize you’d be here. If you can make it past the stone guards and get into the elevator, it’s fun to play “perfume or no perfume” before stepping inside. That’s where you guess if an over-atomized member of the housekeeping staff has recently been inside the capsule. The only true winners are the ones who guess “no perfume” accurately.

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